Strollerderby : patriotism

Man ejected from Yankee Stadium for lack of patriotism

Brett Singer — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:00:00 GMT

I tried to come up with something funny to say about this but I was too annoyed. Sorry about that.

The sportsblog Deadspin interviewed one Bradford Campeau-Laurion who was manhandled by the police (or possibly just Yankee Stadium security; it's not entirely clear). His crime? Getting up during the singing of "God Bless America." Apparently staying motionless during the song (usually a recording of Kate Smith, pictured), played during the 7th inning of baseball games after the 9/11 attacks, is a Yankee Stadium rule imposed by George Steinbrenner last year as, "an expression of patriotism."

Here is Bradford's description of what happened to him:

I attempted to get up to use the restroom, rather urgently, during the 7th inning stretch as God Bless America was beginning. As I attempted to walk down the aisle and exit my section into the tunnel, I was stopped by a police officer. He informed me that I had to wait until the song was over. I responded that I had to use the restroom and that I did not care about God Bless America.

As soon as the latter came out of my mouth, my right arm was twisted violenty [sic] behind my back and I was informed that I was being escorted out of the stadium.

In other words, he had the nerve to (a) move during a patriotic song and (b) to state that he didn't care about said song. No matter how patriotic you consider yourself to be, I hope that you find the behavior of the officers/security personnel to be objectionable.

Source: Deadspin

Image: e-musicpedia

11 months old, 62 pounds

Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Shawn Johnson, Democrat? (UPDATE: Now with video)

Beau Biden almost made me cry

In My Next Life, I'm Birthing Pandas

Political Nanny: Is Sarah Palin a New and Improved Cindy McCain?

Can a Presidential Candidate Be a Family Man?

Airline removes life vests

Elizabeth Edwards slammed for keeping hubby's affair a secret

Upcoming Sesame Street Guests

5 things that would make parents' lives easier

It all started when Mary needed a laxative

5 ways to get revenge on your kids

DVD Review: Our Country, USA to Z

Brett Singer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

With July 4th coming up in a couple of days, many of us are feeling patriotic. But in our current political climate, patriotism can be a highly charged topic. Personally, I think you should be able to love your country without buying into the ideology of a particular person or political party. More "celebrate what's great about America" and less "keep the immigrants out."

"Our Country, USA to Z" (Team Baby Entertainment) is more the former than the latter. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg in her usual slightly sleepy-voiced style, this is (mostly) politics-free patriotism.

The disc opens with a relatively painless song (performed by John Lennon Songwriting Award winner Joe McDermot) about our nation and how good it is, with shots of cute babies dancing around. Football, kids, cities, Native Americans, Statue of Liberty – pretty straightforward stuff, pleasantly presented.

Then come the letters. (The chapters on the DVD, available in the main menu, are helpfully split up by letter so you can skip around if you need to.) A is for America (duh), B is for Bell, as in "Liberty Bell," C is for Columbus (with no mention of Native Americans), D is for Diveristy, and so on. My favorite segment was J, which is of course for Jazz. Whoopi should do a whole DVD for kids on the history of jazz. M is for Military was a little weird, but kids will like the trucks and Coast Guard boats. There is a slightly right-of-center leaning revealed (I think) in the choice of "great presidents" (the letter P, of course): George Washington, Abraham Lincoln (a "civil war hero", no mention of freeing the slaves), Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. It's not a huge deal, but I'm guessing that the Democratic version of this disc might not mention ol' RR in this grouping.

There is a teeny amount of suspense when you watch "USA to Z" for the first time – what the heck are they going to do for X, for example? Since K was for King (as in Martin Luther King), I thought maybe we'd get Malcolm X, but they went with Railroad Crossing, which is a little lame, but at least features subways as well as railroads. Then there's "Road Trip," another original tune with a nice montage of video from the 50 states. These include cities as well as purple mountains majesty and amber waves of grain, something that, as a lifelong city dweller, I always appreciate. As always, there are cute kids of various colors and creeds bouncing around.

"Our Country, USA to Z" is a little different from the DVDs that Team Baby Entertainment typically puts out. Most of their content (which I've never seen) seems to be geared towards indoctrinating young children in the ways of sports fandom – Mets Baby, St. Louis Cardinals Baby, Red Sox Baby World Series Edition narrated by Ben Affleck (ouch, that was hard to type – guess who my favorite team is?), and of course, Yankees Baby, which I've never seen but is of course the best of the bunch (that would be my team.)

For the most part, this relatively short DVD is cute, harmless patriotism that does a decent job of including the different types of people and places that make up the United States of America. There is no mention of more controversial topics – Native Americans, slavery – but it is geared towards very young children; 2 or 3-year-olds is about right in my view. "Our Country, USA to Z" is educational, colorful, and doesn't go too far to the right. And when it does skew a little bit more Red State than Blue, that's tempered by the presence of the Whoopster's narration. Whoever hired her deserves a big, fat all-American raise.

image: Team Baby Entertainment

Iraq War Takes Its Toll on Officers’ Marriages

Brad and Angie, What Will They Do With The Money?

Political Nanny: Obama Gives MoveOn a Stern Talking To

Son Gives Jolie a Gun

Afghanistan War Veteran Assaults Infant Sons

Jolie-Pitts Give $1M to Iraqi Children

Parody of Mother's Plea to John McCain

Political Nanny: Obama Gives MoveOn a Stern Talking To

Madeline Holler — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:27:00 GMT

Whoa! In a speech today from Indepdence, Mo., home to Harry Truman, Democratic candidate Barack Obama gave one of his biggest organizers and supporters hell.

The candidate called MoveOn.org's ad about General Petraeus, whom the liberal group dubbed "General Betray Us," a "treadbare argument."

Obama was in Missouri to deliver a big speech on patriotism -- defending his own, calling bullshit on anybody who questions another's. Political Nanny can't wait to hear how MoveOn responds. After all, they endorsed Obama early in the primaries -- much to the dismay of Hillary Clinton supporters. And they've organized and raise gobs of people and tons of money on behalf of the candidate.

Hmmm. Quite a demonstration of this new politics stuff. Fall out and responses will no doubt be interesting.

Here's a little more of what he said (from The Hill):

The Illinois senator said politics too often seems “trapped in old, threadbare arguments” that he called “caricatures of left and right.”

This, Obama added, was “most evident during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, when those who opposed administration policy were tagged by some as unpatriotic, and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal.”

“None of us expect that arguments about patriotism will, or should, vanish entirely; after all, when we argue about patriotism, we are arguing about who we are as a country, and more importantly, who we should be,” Obama stated in his speech from Independence, Mo. “But surely we can agree that no party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism.”

Yes, but was he wearing a flag pin on his lapel?

[via Salon]

Photo: CNN.com

Strollerderby : patriotism

Man ejected from Yankee Stadium for lack of patriotism

Sarah Palin, Sportscaster

11 months old, 62 pounds

Dad arrested for leaving son at McDonald's

Shawn Johnson, Democrat? (UPDATE: Now with video)

Beau Biden almost made me cry

In My Next Life, I'm Birthing Pandas

Political Nanny: Is Sarah Palin a New and Improved Cindy McCain?

Can a Presidential Candidate Be a Family Man?

Airline removes life vests

Elizabeth Edwards slammed for keeping hubby's affair a secret

Upcoming Sesame Street Guests

5 things that would make parents' lives easier

It all started when Mary needed a laxative

5 ways to get revenge on your kids

DVD Review: Our Country, USA to Z

The Human Element of War

Iraq War Takes Its Toll on Officers’ Marriages

Brad and Angie, What Will They Do With The Money?

Political Nanny: Obama Gives MoveOn a Stern Talking To

Son Gives Jolie a Gun

Afghanistan War Veteran Assaults Infant Sons

Jolie-Pitts Give $1M to Iraqi Children

Parody of Mother's Plea to John McCain

Political Nanny: Obama Gives MoveOn a Stern Talking To